It seems that the true identity of the woman in the binoculars header on Ministry Watchman has finally been revealed. Unfortunately for Matt Chancey and his asture research team, it is not Jennifer Epstein. Check out Grace Indelible for all the details and links to the unedited photo. It is now apparent that the central reason for Chancey’s political hit site has been totally destroyed. 
The real Mrs. Binoculars stands up
April 15th, 2009Joe Taylor’s book is now available
April 14th, 2009Joe Taylor’s book, Fossil, Facts and Fantasies is has returned. Visit http://www.helpjoetaylor.com/joe-taylors-book-back-in-print.html for more details.
Irony of Behemoth Proportions?
April 13th, 2009I found the following excerpt on Behemoth.com, Vision Forum’s movie download site. See if you can spot the irony in regards to Joe Taylor’s dealing with Doug Phillips and Taylor’s attempt to use Peacemakers with Phillips:
VFI believes that the Bible teaches people to make every effort to live at peace and to resolve disputes with each other in private or within the Christian church (see Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8). Therefore, as a condition of this purchase, you agree that any claim or dispute you may have with VFI, its licensors and/or content providers arising from or related to this agreement and/or your purchase shall be settled by Biblically-based mediation and, if necessary, legally binding arbitration in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for Christian Conciliation of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, a division of Peacemaker© Ministries (complete text of the Rules is available at www.Peacemaker.net). Judgment upon an arbitration decision may be entered in any court otherwise having jurisdiction. You understand that these methods shall be the sole remedy for any controversy or claim you might have arising out of this agreement and you expressly waive your right to file a lawsuit in any civil court against VFI, its licensors, and its content providers, except to enforce an arbitration decision.
Does Proof-Texting sideline the Bible?
October 14th, 2008Editor’s Note: I am glad to be able to share with my readers various writings from Robert Higginson, a dear brother from Britain. Robert was a frequent commenter when Slice of Laodicea allowed comments where he always provided insight and wisdom. I pray that these words are a blessings to all.
Since I made the suggestion that at least one well-known figure in 21st century Christianity has sidelined Scripture, perhaps some comment on proof-texting is required.
The proper place of proof-texting is to point to the source of some fact which has previously been learned from the Bible. In effect, the statement of the fact is only a re-statement of what the Bible says, and the re-statement is to put the fact in a form which suits the subject in hand. The first key thing is that the fact has been learned from studying the Bible, and ensuring that the fact is consistent with what the Bible has to say in more than one place. The second key thing is that any proof-text supports the statement more strongly when the verse is studied in a number of translations and in the original language; supports it more strongly when studied in its own context; and supports it more strongly when compared with other verses which relate to the same subject. If any of these factors are missing, the proof-text may become a pretext for something which may not be true to Scripture.
Implicit in this is the attitude that the Bible is the Word of God, and should be handled with respect. If it is truly God’s word to us, then its authority is not that of any human author, but that of God Himself. If we begin by questioning the authority of the Bible, and suggest that it is (at least in part) of human origin and subject to human limitations of truth and accuracy, we will at some stage find proof-texts to support a statement which is not true to the Bible.
The suggestion that this can lead to sidelining the Bible was made in the context of debate about Rick Warren, both in the magazine “MET-Connexions” and also on Crosstalk America. (http://www.met-uk.org/met/index.php , letter in the Spring 2008 issue, and www.crosstalkamerica.com for 02 June 2008.) I did not question Warren’s motivation to bring as many as possible to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. But it seems that he has allowed zeal for this to bring in management methods which detract from the Gospel.
In his book “The Purpose Driven Life”, Warren refers to hundreds of Bible verses. This is good. But the question of sidelining the Bible arises from this. The verses are used as proof-texts, commonly to support a statement, rather than to uncover what the Bible has to say. Some writers have found TPDL to be a statement of the humanistic management methods of the late Peter Drucker and others, which is presented in the form of a Bible study. As such, the proof-texts have the effect of sidelining the Bible by removing it from its proper place as the source of the information.
Consider one example of Warren’s case for the “40 days of purpose” concept. It is claimed that the ministry of Jesus was transformed by his 40 days in the wilderness. The proof-text for this is Luke 4:14, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him into all the region round about.” But Matthew (4:12) and Mark (1:14) make it clear that this was after John was put in prison (Luke 3:20). The time delay is not given, but a reasonable suggestion is 6 months, which would give suitable time to recover physically from a 6 week fast. Further, it is clear from reading all 4 Gospels, including Luke who is used by Warren for the proof text, that Jesus did not have any public ministry before. this. But there was a 30 year preparation, including a time of testing immediately after Jesus was baptised. When we look closely at this proof text, it does not support Warren’s claim, but it is consistent with the classical interpretation of the 40 days as testing, probation and judgement.
We also find that Warren uses a variety of paraphrases which go beyond merely removing archaic vocabulary. All too often, the meaning is different from a literal translation, and reference to the original language reveals that the text does not support the meaning Warren claims by his use as a proof-text. Analysis of TPDL, which anyone can do, is the basis of my suggestion that proof-texting can side-line the Bible.
Copyright 2008 RJ Higginson. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution is allowed as long as it not for profit and unedited.
Vision Forum Ministries to lose their headquarters due to Eminent Domain?
July 2nd, 2008I received an email this morning from Henry Johnson discussing Vision Forum’s battle with Eminent Domain. While I could not locate anything about this on either the Vision Forum, Inc. or Vision Forum Ministries sites, I was able to find a blog referencing a letter sent to I guess Vision Forum supporters and another website making a plea for help.
See excerpts of the letter sent out by Vision Forum
Public plea for help from FRN
It is public record (PDF download) that the land and building on 4719 Blanco Rd (home of both Vision Forum, Inc. and Vision Forum Ministries) were donated in early 2002 by the Vineyard Foundation.
Help Joe Taylor
January 14th, 2008A new website has been launched www.helpjoetaylor.com detailing why Christian Paleontologist Joe Taylor needs our help. Readers of raisingthetruth.com, ministrywatchman.com and my ongoing blog series are aware of the current predicament that entangles Joe. Please visit the site to see if you can help and leave a note of encouragement if you desire. Also please pray that God will be glorified and that Truth with ultimately prevail.
Ligonier’s 2006 Form 990 is now available
October 18th, 2007I don’t know how long this has been available but the 2006 Form 990 is now here: Ligonier 2006 Form 990
Special pay special attention to the footnote on page 17 about how the family members compensation are determined. I will post soon with update calculations and commentary if necessary.
New series of articles analyizing Vision Forum’s Raising the Allosaur
September 27th, 2007Starting today I am beginning a series of articles focusing on Vision Forum’s documentary Raising the Allosaur. I intend to write several articles regarding the film and related topics so please check back often. The first article will deal with the raising and transportation of the allosaurus skull as depicted in the film. All articles will located in the sidebar in the pages section under “Raising the Allosaur.”
Article 1 – Raising the allosaurus and bordering on deception
New website dealing with the Raising the Allosaur controversy
May 13th, 2007There is now a website strictly dealing with the controversy surrounding Doug Phillip’s/Vision Forum’s Raising the Allosaur documentary. Please bookmark and visit www.dinodeception.com as content will be added regularly.
Uncongratulations!
May 1st, 2007“Maxwell Smart” made a comment a while back about Google cache not showing Natasha Epstein as a runner-up in the 2002 Elsie Dinsmore Essay Contest anymore, but it was there when Jennifer Epstein had mentioned it and she even included a link. Now, the current cached page has a date of April 18th 2007 and is still missing Natasha Epstein as a runner up. Well, I have a pdf copy of the original page that includes the following:
RUNNER UP
Natasha Epstein
Elsie’s life portrays all the mannerisms of a by gone era. In her time, girls were taught to be submissive and refined, not out spoken; fathers and mothers thought about the generations to come, and prepared for them; and in families such as Elsie’s, ladies and gentlemen were taught to be courteous and friendly, always serving others.
You can view the current page:
http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/essaycontests/elsie2002/
It does seem however that Vision Forum is misleading visitors by omitting one of the runner-ups. Does this mean that they are revoking her congratulations?